First ‘Star Wars’ Spinoff Officially Titled ‘Rogue One’

Star Wars details have always been difficult to come by, but they've proven even more difficult with the upcoming spinoff. Other than confirmation that Gareth Edwards (Godzilla) will direct, we know very little about the film. Well, now we at least know what it will be called. Disney and Lucasfilm today confirmed that the first ever Star Wars spinoff will be officially called Rogue One.

While we still don't know much about the film's plot — although the title does offer some hints — we do get confirmation that Oscar nominee Felicity Jones will star and that Chris Weitz (Cinderella) will write the script. Here's the official news from Lucasfilm:

Rogue One is the title for the first film in a unique series of big-screen adventures that explores the characters and events beyond the core Star Wars saga. Rogue One will be directed by Gareth Edwards (Monsters, Godzilla) and written by Oscar nominee Chris Weitz (Cinderella, About a Boy, Antz). The first actress cast is Felicity Jones, who garnered an Academy Award nomination and critical acclaim for her performance in The Theory of Everything. The idea for the story of Rogue One came from John Knoll, an Academy Award-winning visual effects supervisor and chief creative officer at Industrial Light & Magic. He will executive produce along with Simon Emanuel (The Dark Knight Rises, Fast & Furious 6) and Jason McGatlin (Tintin, War of the Worlds). Kathleen Kennedy and Tony To (Band of Brothers, The Pacific) are on board to produce and John Swartz (Star Wars: The Force Awakens) will co-produce. The film starts shooting this summer in London and is due for release on December 16, 2016.

So, what does it all mean? The rumored plot for the film was that it would follow a group of bounty hunters (including Boba Fett) hired to steal the plans for the Death Star from the Empire. Luke Skywalker is “Rogue One” in The Empire Strikes Back and Wedge Antilles takes the name in Return of the Jedi. Does this mean Felicity Jones has inherited the title?

How much of that remains after Weitz was hired to rewrite the original draft by Gary Whitta remains to be seen.